Seth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Have any of you bothered to read the American
>Home Recording Act of 1976 and it's 1992 Ammendment
>before showing the list your ignorance regarding the
>issue? Judging from most of your posts it would seem
>to me that you haven't only not read it, but you
>haven't a clue what it says.
Now there's a good way to make friends ;-)
>"No action may be brought under this title alleging
>infringement of copyright based on the manufacture,
>importation, or distribution of a digital audio
>recording device, a digital audio recording medium, an
>analog recording device, or an analog recording
>medium, or based on the noncommercial use by a
>consumer of such a device or medium for making digital
>musical recordings or analog musical recordings."
All *that* says is that you can't get sued or charged with a crime for
selling a MiniDisc player. It also says that a consumer can't be
sued/charged for using that device in a "noncommercial" manner to make
recordings. You can argue all you want about whether or not giving
someone a copy or taking a copy from someone else is "commercial" -- it
doesn't matter. Other sections that you didn't quote (see below) cover
that.
>However what it does say is that you can't be
>prosecuted (no action may be brought against...). It
>covers all noncommercial use of MDs, Audio CD-Rs,
>Audio tape, ect. This means you can borrow your
>friends CDs and copy them to MD (that's not
>commercial). You can copy your own CDs to MD (that's
>not commercial). You can record just about anything
>with a covered device and not worry about anything.
That is what my lawyer friends would call a "convenient" interpretation
of the law ;-)
Here's a part you didn't quote:
Subject to sections 107 through 120, the owner of copyright under
this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of
the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or
phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted
work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted
work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by
rental, lease, or lending;
(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and
choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other
audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and
choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or
sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion
picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted
work publicly; and
(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted
work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
It is *very* clear that copying an album you do not own is violating the
rights of the owner of the copyright. Note the words "exclusive rights."
And how about this one: Title 17, Section 109:
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a),
unless authorized by the owners of copyright in the sound
recording or the owner of copyright in a computer program
(including any tape, disk, or other medium embodying such
program), and in the case of a sound recording in the
musical works embodied therein, neither the owner of a
particular phonorecord nor any person in possession of a
particular copy of a computer program (including any tape,
disk, or other medium embodying such program), may, for
the purposes of direct or indirect commercial advantage,
dispose of, or authorize the disposal of, the possession
of that phonorecord or computer program (including any
tape, disk, or other medium embodying such program) by
rental, lease, or lending, or by any other act or practice
in the nature of rental, lease, or lending.
Trading a copy of an album for a copy of a different album is indeed "for
the purpose of commercial advantage." Making a copy of someone else's CD
is indeed "for the purpose of commercial advantage."
It's very clear. If you want to copy CDs that you don't own, that's your
prerogative. If you want to trade MDs of copyrighted work, go for it. But
please don't try to tell everyone else that what you're doing is legal
and in fact "encouraged." It isn't.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word
"unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
